Proposal to Turn Murrysville (Pa.) GC into Housing Considered

A developer presented a conceptual plan to the town council that would turn the 137-acre tract into 84 single-level living structures targeted to local empty nesters, “to keep some of our finest citizens in the community where they’ve been for years and years.”

A developer envisions transforming Murrysville (Pa.) Golf Course’s land into a haven for local empty nesters seeking single-level living, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

On October 16, Richard Kacin of Murrysville-based Kacin General Contractors, presented the Murrysville Council with a conceptual plan for the 137-acre tract, the Tribune-Review reported.

No deal for the land has been finalized. Jim Geiger, president of Recreation Inc. and General Manager of the golf course, told the Tribune-Review that the course’s ownership is evaluating its options, one of which is the housing development concept.

The property owners asked the Murrysville council to change the land’s zoning designation from “rural residential” to “R1-low density”—a switch that would allow more homes, which is necessary to recoup development costs, landscape architect Brian Almeter told the Tribune-Review. The concept calls for about 84 single-family homes.

Council did not issue a decision about the rezoning request, which had been approved by the town’s planning commission and referred to council earlier this month, the Tribune-Review reported.

The 83-year-old golf course is surrounded by properties zoned R1, said Geiger, who asked council to “establish the proper zoning classification for the land for the future.”

Under its current zoning, a developer would be required to provide bigger “estate lots,” said attorney Bill Sittig, who represents Recreation Inc. But a zoning change, he said, would allow a concentration of homes along adjacent Sardis Road, while still maintaining open space and character.

“It’s not senior citizens’ living, it’s empty nesters [with] dual income,” Sittig said.

“They’re pretty desirable people,” he added. “They can move into a high-quality [place] that keeps them here and keeps them around their families, but allows them to have first-floor [master bedrooms] and not have the maintenance issues.”

The real estate market demands “one-level living” homes, Kacin said. The development would feature high-end architecture with front porches, sidewalks, backyards and open park areas, the Tribune-Review reported.

“We would be keeping some of our finest citizens in the community where they’ve been for years and years. And chances are, we can get their families to move here, their kids,” Kacin said. “There’s a change in the housing market. I think this is a change we should address.”

The homes might also attract young families, he added.

If developed, builders would have to provide sewage and water service to the properties, a costly endeavor, Almeter said.

Resident Ron Rodman, whose property borders the golf course, said he prefers the “character of the lower density,” the Tribune-Review reported.

But Joe Jelovich, another neighbor of the course, said he supports the zoning switch, to allow the landowner to “develop it into a more reasonable facility.”